A Special Holiday Message to Pepperdine Caruso Law Staff Members

At the Pepperdine Caruso Law staff holiday virtual gathering on December 16, Dean of Admissions and Student Services and Executive Staff Director Shannon Phillips conveyed the following heartfelt message of gratitude to all staff members following an academic semester of outstanding work and accomplishments:

It is so good to see everyone today. There are many smiles, good cheer, and a sense of calmness. I feel the joy coming through my screen. It must be the end of the semester! And what a semester it has been. You all should feel such a sense of pride in what was accomplished, with such excellence, this fully online fall semester. You did not skip a beat.

• You kept the community engaged in meaningful and important events and series, such as the Dean's Speaker Series, Race and the Law Series, Reimagining Justice Series, the Esther Project, Black Women and the Law Summit, and Young Voices in Divided Times, just to name a few that have taken place this semester.
• The Christian Legal Society had superstar speakers each week and had an amazing alumni reunion.
• Annual and regular events such as Diversity Week, Public Interest Week, and Open Conversations continued as usual and were well-attended and appreciated.
• You prepared our 2020 graduates for an online bar exam.
• You prepared our students for the upcoming online On-Campus Interviews in January.
• The admissions team navigated a virtual recruiting season and is currently seeing a record number of applications.
• Even in a pandemic, our advancement team is continuing to raise funds and realize significant donations.
• You navigated the all-important ABA and US News reporting that happens each fall.
• You kept the building maintained and in good order.
• You practiced expense optimization and made sacrifices.
• As a community, we started this semester without our beloved Professor McGoldrick, we said goodbye to our dear friend Ventura, and we mourned the tragic loss of our 2020 graduate Joel Harris.
• But most importantly, you served and supported our students so well. Our library, centers and institutes, student life, the deans' suite, financial aid, student accounts, student services, faculty support, and information services served our students at all hours of the day and night.
• As the semester came to a close, student life hosted a week of self-care events to help our students through final exams. And our faculty support and final exam team once again executed a flawless final examination period.

Well done! I am, once again, humbled by the care and dedication each one of you has for our students and for the law school community. Thank you!